US chem shares rise sharply, break from oil prices

HOUSTON (ICIS)–US-listed shares of chemical companies rose sharply on Monday, breaking from the drop in oil prices as the prospects grow that the country will re-open following the coronavirus (Covid-19).

In the previous sessions, chemicals shares and oil prices moved in tandem.

Brent futures for June delivery settled at $19.99/bbl, down from $21.44/bbl.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for June delivery settled at $12.78/bbl, down from $16.94/bbl.

By contrast, every US-listed company followed by ICIS rose, as shown in the table below.

	$ Current Price	$ Change	% Change
AdvanSix	10.55	1.07	11.29
Axalta Coating Systems	19.16	0.71	3.82
Braskem	7.70	0.92	13.57
Celanese	83.13	4.34	5.51
Dow	34.48	1.36	4.09
DuPont	43.87	1.97	4.69
Eastman	59.62	2.35	4.10
HB Fuller	34.44	1.66	5.06
Huntsman	16.37	0.58	3.67
Ingevity	40.38	1.41	3.62
Kraton	10.34	0.53	5.40
Kronos Worldwide	9.29	0.07	0.76
LyondellBasell	52.51	2.46	4.91
Methanex	13.90	0.20	1.46
NewMarket	427.93	15.67	3.80
Olin	15.23	0.84	5.84
PolyOne	22.35	1.10	5.15
PPG	96.19	3.45	3.71
RPM International	67.38	2.33	3.58
Sherwin-Williams	511.76	5.70	1.13
Stepan	94.00	2.97	3.26
Chemours	11.19	0.45	4.14
Trinseo	20.06	1.46	7.85
Tronox	6.63	0.36	5.66
Univar	13.48	1.17	9.50
Venator Materials	1.25	0.07	5.51
Westlake Chemical	42.40	1.70	4.18

The general indices also rose, as shown in the following table.

	27-Apr	Change	%
Dow Jones Industrial Average	24,133.78	358.51	1.51
S&P 500	2,878.48	41.74	1.47
Dow Jones US Chemicals Index	525.42	14.70	2.88
S&P 500 Chemicals Industry Index	528.05	13.02	2.53

Markets rose after the governor of New York outlined the state’s plan to re-open. New York was among the states hardest hit by the coronavirus.

The steps taken to limit the spread of the disease has caused demand for fuel and chemicals to decline, causing prices to drop.

Southern Chemical Corp (SCC) has lowered its May contract price for US methanol by 12 cents/gal from its April price.

Additional reporting by Anna Matherne

Visit the ICIS coronavirus topic page for analysis of the impact on chemical markets and links to latest news.